Bolton Wanderers 1 Heerenveen 1
By Mark Heys August 6 2005
A second half equaliser from Tunisian defender Radhi Jaidi gave Bolton a share of the spoils in their 1-1 friendly draw with Heerenveen at the Reebok Stadium earlier today.
By Mark Heys August 6 2005
A second half equaliser from Tunisian defender Radhi Jaidi gave Bolton a share of the spoils in their 1-1 friendly draw with Heerenveen at the Reebok Stadium earlier today.
The powerful centre half headed home with just fifteen minutes left on the clock to cancel out an earlier own goal from defensive partner Tal Ben-Haim which gave the Dutch side the lead.
For the second successive match the Stadium was vastly deserted as just 2,677 people turned up to see the club in their final pre-season game before the Premiership opener against Aston Villa next weekend.
The Trotters made just one change to the side which defeated Malaga in midweek, whilst Heerenveen included former Manchester City midfielder Paul Bosvelt and one time Dutch international Arnold Bruggink in their line up.
Bolton began powerfully as both Jay-Jay Okocha and El-Hadji Diouf caused Heerenveen to be on their guard. Okocha has benefited from a decent pre-season warm-up after much of his season was blighted by injury last year.
The Wanderers had been let off on 19 minutes when England U21 defender Nicky Hunt cleared a Georgios Samaras effort from off the line, but the men from the Netherlands took a bizarre, if not lucky lead ten minutes later when Bolton defender Ben-Haim steered a innocent looking cross from the right past his own goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
El-Hadji Diouf thought he had brought Bolton back on level terms in the 37th minute, but his effort was ruled out for an offside as the Wanderers looked to finish the first half the stronger.
Heerenveen's young keeper Boy Waterman then made a couple of good saves as the half came to a close, firstly a lame Okocha shot was easily gathered by the 21-year old custodian and then Kevin Davies saw his shot well saved.
Wanderers made progress in the second half, but amazingly their best goal threats had come from set pieces via defender Jaidi. On 66 minutes the big African saw his header from a Diouf corner tipped away by Waterman as the home side pressed for a goal.
With just over quarter of an hour remaining the telling pressure finally paid off as Jaidi rose to head a Stelios Giannakopoulos corner past Waterman to deservedly bring Bolton back into the match.
The late goal from Jaidi highlighted the predatory insticts which had made the former Esparence defender such a threat in attacking situations for Bolton last season.
Vice-captain Gary Speed nearly won the game for Bolton in the final ten minutes but he could not divert his header past Waterman, who had otherwise managed to keep the Wanderers at bay.
All in all, it has been a good pre-season workout for the team, with success in the Asia Cup and and undefeated record in the Far East to look back on. Also, the fitness levels of the players are good ahead of the next week's game with Villa so here's to a good season.
Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt, Ricardo Gardner (Henrik Pedersen), Ivan Campo (Joey O'Brien), Radhi Jaidi, Tal Ben-Haim (Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye), Stelios Giannakopoulos, Gary Speed, Kevin Davies (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Jay-Jay Okocha (Kevin Nolan), El-Hadji Diouf
Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Bruno N'Gotty, Henrik Pedersen, Jarostaw Fojut, Scott Jamieson.
SC Heerenveen: Boy Waterman, Petter Hansson, Michel Breuer, Marcel Seip, Paul Bosvelt, Ugur Yldrim (Lasse Nilsson), Klasse Jan Huntelaar, Henrico Drost, Arnold Bruggink, Georgios Samaras, Daniel Pranjic
Subs Not Used: Said Bakkati, Thomas Prager, Sebastiaan Steur, Fernando Derveld, Jeroen Drost, Brian Van Den Bussche
For the second successive match the Stadium was vastly deserted as just 2,677 people turned up to see the club in their final pre-season game before the Premiership opener against Aston Villa next weekend.
The Trotters made just one change to the side which defeated Malaga in midweek, whilst Heerenveen included former Manchester City midfielder Paul Bosvelt and one time Dutch international Arnold Bruggink in their line up.
Bolton began powerfully as both Jay-Jay Okocha and El-Hadji Diouf caused Heerenveen to be on their guard. Okocha has benefited from a decent pre-season warm-up after much of his season was blighted by injury last year.
The Wanderers had been let off on 19 minutes when England U21 defender Nicky Hunt cleared a Georgios Samaras effort from off the line, but the men from the Netherlands took a bizarre, if not lucky lead ten minutes later when Bolton defender Ben-Haim steered a innocent looking cross from the right past his own goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
El-Hadji Diouf thought he had brought Bolton back on level terms in the 37th minute, but his effort was ruled out for an offside as the Wanderers looked to finish the first half the stronger.
Heerenveen's young keeper Boy Waterman then made a couple of good saves as the half came to a close, firstly a lame Okocha shot was easily gathered by the 21-year old custodian and then Kevin Davies saw his shot well saved.
Wanderers made progress in the second half, but amazingly their best goal threats had come from set pieces via defender Jaidi. On 66 minutes the big African saw his header from a Diouf corner tipped away by Waterman as the home side pressed for a goal.
With just over quarter of an hour remaining the telling pressure finally paid off as Jaidi rose to head a Stelios Giannakopoulos corner past Waterman to deservedly bring Bolton back into the match.
The late goal from Jaidi highlighted the predatory insticts which had made the former Esparence defender such a threat in attacking situations for Bolton last season.
Vice-captain Gary Speed nearly won the game for Bolton in the final ten minutes but he could not divert his header past Waterman, who had otherwise managed to keep the Wanderers at bay.
All in all, it has been a good pre-season workout for the team, with success in the Asia Cup and and undefeated record in the Far East to look back on. Also, the fitness levels of the players are good ahead of the next week's game with Villa so here's to a good season.
Bolton Wanderers: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Nicky Hunt, Ricardo Gardner (Henrik Pedersen), Ivan Campo (Joey O'Brien), Radhi Jaidi, Tal Ben-Haim (Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye), Stelios Giannakopoulos, Gary Speed, Kevin Davies (Ricardo Vaz-Te), Jay-Jay Okocha (Kevin Nolan), El-Hadji Diouf
Subs Not Used: Ian Walker, Bruno N'Gotty, Henrik Pedersen, Jarostaw Fojut, Scott Jamieson.
SC Heerenveen: Boy Waterman, Petter Hansson, Michel Breuer, Marcel Seip, Paul Bosvelt, Ugur Yldrim (Lasse Nilsson), Klasse Jan Huntelaar, Henrico Drost, Arnold Bruggink, Georgios Samaras, Daniel Pranjic
Subs Not Used: Said Bakkati, Thomas Prager, Sebastiaan Steur, Fernando Derveld, Jeroen Drost, Brian Van Den Bussche
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